Media

Studies

Helpdesk

Dear Drugs-Forum readers: We are a small non-profit that runs one of the most read drug information & addiction help websites in the world. We serve over 4 million readers per month, and have costs like all popular websites: servers, hosting, licenses and software. To protect our independence we do not run ads. We take no government funds. We run on donations which average $25. If everyone reading this would donate $5 then this fund raiser would be done in an hour. If Drugs-Forum is useful to you, take one minute to keep it online another year by donating whatever you can today. Donations are currently not sufficient to pay our bills and keep the site up. Your help is most welcome. Thank you.

Mother says son shot in Londonderry because of drugs

The mother of an 18-year-old shot in Londonderry has said she believes he was targeted because he was a drug user. The teenager was shot in both legs at Rinmore Drive in Creggan shortly after 22:00 BST on Thursday. He was treated in hospital before being discharged.

His mother was told to take him to the location, and waited at the top of a lane while he was shot twice.
"I know what happened was wrong but hopefully he'll get help," she said.
Condemned
The dissident group Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) is suspected to have been behind the attack, which been condemned by politicians and police.
The woman said she believed he was targeted "because he was dealing in drugs to feed his habit".
"It should never have come to this, he shouldn't have been doing what he was doing," she said.
"I don't agree with drug dealing and hopefully we can work from here to get him the help he needs."
She said she was ordered to bring her son to a specific place in the Creggan estate.
"He walked down the lane - I was standing at the top - and I heard two shots," she said.
"I ran down to him. There was blood coming from both of his legs, but he was lucid.
"I just did what had to be done."

'Rampant'
She said drugs were "rampant" among young people in Derry.
"I have witnessed the hallucinations, the depression - the weight loss is unbelievable and his mental state... I was losing my son through drugs," she said.
Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin said the attack was "carried out by a criminal gang who set themselves up unlawfully as judge, jury and administers of summary punishment".
"They have brutalised members of their community and inflicted terrible injuries, much of those on young people, over the last number of years," he said.
"We have seen how they have carried out assaults and attacks on those who have raised their voice against them. This year we have seen their thirst for power go further when they claimed responsibility for murder.

"They seek to intimidate and bully through the threat of violence and it's time they listened to the community, stop what they are doing and disband."
One of the organisers of a rally against RAAD said he thought the shooting had been deliberately timed ahead of a rally they were holding on Saturday.

Davy McCauley, who is a spokesman for RAAD - Not In Our Name, said he was "disgusted".
"This is their attempt to say they won't go away and that rallies won't do any good," he said.
"After the last rally we had, Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) were forced to rescind two death threats they had issued. "This shooting will not deter us and hopefully will bring more people out onto the streets."

Share This Article

Comments

Sort Comments By

A paramilitary-style shooting in Londonderry was deliberately timed ahead of a rally against a dissident republican group, one of its organisers has claimed.An 18-year-old man was shot in both legs at Rinmore Drive in Creggan shortly after 22:00 BST on Thursday. He was treated in Altnagelvin Hospital before being discharged.

Davy McCauley of RAAD - Not In Our Name, which is holding a rally on Saturday, said he was "disgusted".
"This is their attempt to say they won't go away and that rallies won't do any good," he said.
"After the last rally we had, Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) were forced to rescind two death threats they had issued.

"This shooting will not deter us and hopefully will bring more people out onto the streets."
Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin said the attack was "carried out by a criminal gang who set themselves up unlawfully as judge, jury and administers of summary punishment".
"They have brutalised members of their community and inflicted terrible injuries, much of those on young people over the last number of years," he said.
"We have seen how they have carried out assaults and attacks on those who have raised their voice against them. This year we have seen their thirst for power go further when they claimed responsibility for murder.

"They seek to intimidate and bully through the threat of violence and it's time they listened to the community, stop what they are doing and disband."
SDLP MLA Pat Ramsey said he believed the Derry-based paramilitaries were behind the attack.
"We do know that in the past people have been asked to attend at a certain time and spot," he said.
"One can only imagine that given the hallmarks here, that this is another shooting by Republican Action Against Drugs."

His mother was told to take him to the location, and waited at the top of a lane while he was shot twice.
"I know what happened was wrong but hopefully he'll get help," she said.
Condemned
The dissident group Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) is suspected to have been behind the attack, which been condemned by politicians and police.
The woman said she believed he was targeted "because he was dealing in drugs to feed his habit".
"It should never have come to this, he shouldn't have been doing what he was doing," she said.
"I don't agree with drug dealing and hopefully we can work from here to get him the help he needs."
She said she was ordered to bring her son to a specific place in the Creggan estate.
"He walked down the lane - I was standing at the top - and I heard two shots," she said.
"I ran down to him. There was blood coming from both of his legs, but he was lucid.
"I just did what had to be done."

Click to expand...

So, his own mother set him up to be shot? Who gave her the order and why did she decide to not contact police instead of obey? Maybe I am missing something here, but she seams just as guilty as RAAD or a supporter.

holy crap, I didn't even see that. I honestly hope that woman is lynched and burned at the stake.

evil fucking bitch.

Seriously, she couldn't take him to rehab or just have hm arrested? How hard would that have been? Why would you take out a hit on your own child? Is there some legal issue in Ireland that would keep her from committing him to a hospital or something?

That's pretty ruthless and brutal. It goes to show that some places have gone to new levels of foolishness. I'd never thought that I'd see the day where people are getting smacked around for just doing drugs... usually people target the crime population... not the users. o.o

So, his own mother set him up to be shot? Who gave her the order and why did she decide to not contact police instead of obey? Maybe I am missing something here, but she seams just as guilty as RAAD or a supporter.

holy crap, I didn't even see that. I honestly hope that woman is lynched and burned at the stake.

evil fucking bitch.

Seriously, she couldn't take him to rehab or just have hm arrested? How hard would that have been? Why would you take out a hit on your own child? Is there some legal issue in Ireland that would keep her from committing him to a hospital or something?

Click to expand...

From what I understand of the story, the culture, and past evidence of punishment beatings and shootings, they aren't the sort of people you really say no to. An atmosphere of fear, brutality and strong influence in some communities means that once "the word" has been put out, there isn't all that much that family, friends or even law enforcement can do to protect the person.
Combine that with the fact that the young man was involved in illegal drugs, dealing and possibly other petty crime in the community that residents did not like (IE Stealing, disruption to the lives of others) and a distrust/culture of silence towards the police, means that while some people may not like what these people do, they won't risk speaking up, whilst others unfortunately may encourage and support it. Those who do publicly protest receive threats on their lives, just like this man, who arganises rallies against the RAAD: Derry man receives new threat from RAAD

From the tone of his mothers comments, she seems to have disapproved of her sons actions, and due to a poor understanding of addiction, along with vigilante action being quite common in close nit communities and a fear of reprisals against herself, she probably felt like she had little choice, felt like "it was the only way to stop him" or one of many other asinine rationalisations. Christ knows how anyone can think this was appropriate...Tribal justice is alive and well...

If anyone wants to read more, click here, or search "republican action against drugs" on google. For an organisation only 3 years active, they have been responsible for a lot of attacks in a very small part of the country (londonderry) with little being done to combat it, largely due to people looking the other way.

I have heard reports that they are setting up shop in North Belfast now, so I'm expecting it to get worse unfortunately, it's bad enough that by in large Loyalist paramilitaries control a large part of the drugs trade (and use a lot of violence towards other dealers "not in the loop" to keep a hold of the monopoly) but add in a Republican group that uses violence TOWARDS drug dealers and you have a sectarian element added to the mix, which given the violence of the troubles, isn't good at all. Loyalist activity is much higher in Belfast than Londonderry, so I really see a storm brewing.

So, his own mother set him up to be shot? Who gave her the order and why did she decide not contact police instead of obey? Maybe I am missing something here, but she seams just as guilty RAAD or a supporter.

Click to expand...

When you get an order from these people you got no choice in the matter.Unless they left the country.If they had informed police they wouldnt have kneecapped him they would kill him.This is the IRA under a new banner on a new fight.In some areas they have more power than the police.

i find it so amusing that a lot of people only link the word terrorist with islam. these people are no different than al qaeda,IRA, or any extremist group.

the common link between all of these groups is ignorance. how very sad it is that people cant take a few moments to think about things through other peoples perspectives, if this was built into our brain how peaceful and great our world would be.

these people are terrorists, there is no other word for how they express their views, they are ignorant, have no mind, and are so deep into their thoughts they can not have any other. some one this extreme is sitting in their house all day, alone, cursing drug addicts yet not taking the time to really research what is causing drug addiction.

they are dangerous, ignorant, yet i cant see them being in touch with the real world. if violence solved anything we would all be bowing down to hitler.

i find it so amusing that a lot of people only link the word terrorist with islam. these people are no different than al qaeda,IRA, or any extremist group.

the common link between all of these groups is ignorance. how very sad it is that people cant take a few moments to think about things through other peoples perspectives, if this was built into our brain how peaceful and great our world would be.

Click to expand...

The worst part of this is that the drug trade is controlled by either IRA/UDA groups in Ulster and the terrorists who are in RAAD,who were IRA members before this,were mostly bankrolled by drug money.If they really wanted to stamp out drugs why dont they target the big time dealers instead of low level addicts??they probably know them personally,infact they are probably friends/relations to many of the racketeers.The terror groups have mostly moved on to drugs,bootlegging and protection and then you get these anti drug twats.If they want to stamp out drugs then go for the top men.Its pure hipocracy.

When you get an order from these people you got no choice in the matter.Unless they left the country.If they had informed police they wouldnt have kneecapped him they would kill him.This is the IRA under a new banner on a new fight.In some areas they have more power than the police.

Click to expand...

You always have a choice. Why do you think the IRA and Mafia are so secretive?

One rat to sink a ship.

With as easy as guns and nail bombs are so easy to make in Ireland, no wonder why there is a vigilante group of KIDS running amok.

You always have a choice. Why do you think the IRA and Mafia are so secretive?

Click to expand...

I see your point but if you grass on them you will have to leave the country.There have been people before who
have been put into witness protection from the IRA and they still manage to find them.They have more power than the police in many areas.Its not as bad as it was but there is still not many people who will testify against them.If he hadnt went to where they said he would have had to leave,fast.They arent like some gang of thugs, even though they act like it.If they were old IRA members they have a lot of power in their areas.

Those who are familiar with living in a community under gang rule, might understand. Consider this as the best possible outcome to the situation that was presented. Please be sympathetic, do you really think any Mother would take this decision lightly?

Yeah, the mother is just a victim in this who had very few realistic options.
This kind of behaviour sickens me. The RAAD are setting up a kind of informal logic system wherein anything a person finds to be unsatisfactory somehow gives that person the right to form a spuriously extra-judicial group and use organized violence.
Whether or not the group's spokesperson condones the violence is immaterial, and always has been in the North and everywhere else.

By their own values and definition I have the right to form an anti-RAAD group and terrorise their members; the problem is this will never happen because such a counter-defense is (superficially/ironically) rational, and rational, intelligent people will never stoop to the level of violence. This means groups like the RAAD will continue to perpetuate this infrahuman mindset of political and social self-justification, where the end is non-existent but the means are uniformly caustic, violent and helplessly better-suited to neanderthal or stone age times than this, the actual 21st century, common era. Fuck me.
So while they continue brutalising people, the brutalised people continue to be understandably terrified and comply to their measures, while the press, government and rational people just sit around and tut.

And all this perpetuates the awful, self-doubting dichotomy in Irish identity that seemed, for just a moment, to be somewhat healed during the Celtic Tiger. The troubles were largely over then - at least, the riots and widespread violence had subsided - and we were making grave economic headway. Sure, we were totally homogenized with American and mainland-European culture (itself Americanised) in the process, but it was all right at the time, because things seemed (seemed being a very important word) to be getting better. Then it turned out we actually fucked the whole thing up irreparably, and now what with these kinds of shootings and renewed, violent IRA and loyalist activites, we're now considered a joke by Europe and everything's gone to shit.
This chap has a right to use drugs. Dealing, of course, is a different can of worms, but no one has the right to harm anyone, and certainly not for drug use.